Apparatus for sorting and conditioning bobbins.



RSPENGE. APPARATUS FOR SOB-TING AND CONDITIONING BOBBINS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13. 1911.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.,WASmN010N. D. c.

P. SPENGE. APPARATUS FOR SORTING AND CONDITIONING BOBBINS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1911.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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I; SPENGE.

APIARATUS FOR SORTING AND CONDITIONING BOBBINS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1911.

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FRED SPENCE, or SANFORD, MAINE, Assieivon or ONE-HALF T0 GOODALL wonsrnn COMPANY, or SANFORD, MAINE, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9,1913.

Application filed September 13, 1911. Serial No. 649,054.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, FRED SPENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sanford, county of York, State of Maine, and whose post-oflice address is Box 549, Sanford, Maine, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Sorting and Conditioning Bobbins, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to an apparatus for sorting and conditioning yarn wound on bobbins. v

In the operations through which wool or cotton stock pass in the manufacture of filling yarns for weaving, many imperfections become apparent such as can only be corrected, to obviate imperfect cloth,-by sorting out the bobbins showing the imperfections.

These imperfections are of various kinds, such as slubs or thick places, imperfect shape, soft wound bobbins, double yarn, curly yarn, snarly yarn, mixed yarn, soiled or discolored yarn, wrong twists and wrong shades, etc, etc., and if the bobbins having the defective yarn should be used in weavin'g cloth'the result would be an imperfect piece of goods. It is therefore customary to sort the bobbins before they are delivered to the weaver so as to discard such bobbins as vary from the standard desired. It is also customary to subject the bobbins after they have been wound and before they are used in weaving cloth to 'a conditioning process, this process consisting of subjecting the wound'bobbins to the action of a damp atmosphere for a certain length of time in order to set the yarn and thus keep it from kinking while being woven. One way of conditioning bobbins is to stack them up for several days in a room having therein a vmoistened atmosphere so that the yarn on the bobbin will absorb the moisture from the air.

My invention aims to provide a novel ap paratus by which this sorting and conditioning of the bobbins can be performed with great facility and at one operation so that a single attendant can'rapidly sort the bobbins and at the same time subject them to the conditioning process as fast as they are sorted and withoutrequiring any additional labor.

I accomplish my invention herein by providing a sorting table on which the bobbins to be sorted are spread out so that they can be readily observed by the sorter thereby permitting him to readily select and discard the bobbins containing imperfect yarn, and

means operating automatically to deliver the sorted bobbins from the table and carry them to a conditioning apparatus through which they are automatically passed and which operates to properly condition them as they pass therethrough. The conditioning apparatus operates automatically and requires no labor on the part of the operator so that with my apparatus a single. operator can attend both to the sorting and conditioning of the bobbins without extra work.

Referring now to the drawings wherein I have shown one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a front'view of a device made in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is an en larged sectional view through the conditioning apparatus on substantially the line m-a;, Fig. 2; Fig. 4; is an enlarged section through the sorting table on substantially the line yy, Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on p the line a(z, Fig. 2.

The sorting table is shown generally at l and it is provided with a tabletop 2 on which the bobbins 3 to be sorted can be placed in bulk. The sorting table may conveniently be formed with the side boards a and back board 5 to retain the bobbins thereon. The

the upper run thereof comes substantially on the level of the table top and the sorted bobbins can be readily pushed from. the table top onto the carrier which will deliver them from the table. While this carrier might be arranged ina variety. of ways, I have hereinshown the table top as cut away at one corner, as at 7, and the carrier. is arranged so that the upper runthereof occupies the space thus formed. The carrier is shown as passing around a shaft 8 journaled in suitable brackets and around a drum or roll 9 which is journaled in suitable brackets 10 carried by the table.

The table has associated therewith. a bobbin-positioning member 11 against which the sorted bobbins 3 may be placed, as shown in Fig. 2, said positioning member being so arranged that the bobbins positioned thereby are in line with the carrier 6. As fast as the bobbins are sorted the operator will place them against the positioning member 11 and when a sufficient number have been thus positioned they may be pushed along the positioning member until they come onto the upper run of the carrier 6.

The table top has associated therewith a guard plate 12 which overlies the receiving end of the carrier 6 and which guides the bobbins onto the carrier. From the carrier 6 the bobbins are delivered to the conditioning apparatus and they may be delivered directly to said apparatus or may first be delivered to a counting device by which they are counted and which in turn delivers them to the conditioning apparatus as desired. In the embodiment herein shown the count ing device is interposed between the carrier 6 and the conditioning apparatus, This counter comprises a plurality of bobbin-receiving elements 13 flexibly connected together in endless-belt fashion and which pass around direction pulleys or drums 14 and 15, said bobbin-receiving elements being arranged beneath the delivery end of the belt 6 so as to receive the bobbins therefrom. As each bobbin is carried forwardly by said bobbin-receiving elements it engages and operates a trip arm 16 pivoted at 17 and connected by a cord 19 to a suitable counter 18 which will register the number of bobbins that pass under the trip arm. This particular form of counter constitutes no part of my present invention. The bobbin-receiving elements 13 deliver the counted bobbins to the conditioning device which is shown best in Fig. 3 and which comprises a casing or housing 20 suitably supported on a frame or stand 21 and provided with a receiving opening 22 in one end through which the bobbins are received and a discharge opening 23 through which the bobbins are discharged. The bobbins are carried through this casing by means of an endless chain carrier 24 which passes around two rolls 25 and 26 suitably supported by the casing.

The connected bobbin-receiving elements 13 of the counter are situated above the receiving end of the endless conveyer 24, as shown-in Fig. 3 so that the bobbins are delivered from the countin device directly onto the conveyer 24 and y the latter are conveyed through the housing 20. The housing 20 is provided with a vapor or steam chamber 27 beneath the conveyer 24 into which atomized water or steam is delivered through a jet or spray device 28 that is suitably connected to a water or steam pipe 29. Said spray device may have any suitable construction as long as it is adapted to deliver steam or water therefrom in the form of a fine spray or cloud. The chamber 27 has the perforated top 30 so that the vapor within the chamber will escape through the perforations in the top and pass up through the belt 24 and the bobbins thereon, any surplus spray or steam which is uncondensed escaping through the openings 22 and 23. I find that by operating the endless conveyer 24 at proper speed it is possible by means of this. apparatus to sufficiently condition the bobbins while they are passing through the housinggvand thus the necessity of stackingv the bobbins up for several days in a conditioning room is avoided.

In practical operation I propose to place a basket or receptacle 32 underneath the delivery end of the conveyer 24 so that the conditioned bobbins will be dropped automatically into said basket. The conveyer 24 and the endless belt 26 may be driven in any suitable way. I have herein shown for this purpose a driving shaft 33 having a 7 driving pulley 34 thereon and also having thereon a sprocket wheel 35 over which runs a sprocket chain 36 which encircles a sprocket wheel on the shaft 37 of the roll 25. Said shaft 33 is also connected by a sprocket chain 38 with a sprocket wheel 39 on the loo shaft 8 so that both the belt conveyer 6 and the endless conveyer 24 are operated from the shaft 33. The connected bobbin-receiving elements 13 may also be operated from this driving shaft 33 if desired.

In using my apparatus the bobbins 3 to be sorted are delivered in bulk onto the table 2 and the operator then proceeds to sort them and arrange the sorted bobbins against the positioning member '11. When a sufficient number of bobbins have been thus positioned they are moved along the positioning member over the plate 12 and onto the conveyer 6 which conveys them to the bobbin-receiving elements 13 of the counter. After the bobbins are counted they are deposited onto the belt conveyer 24 and are carried through the conditioning apparatus and are then delivered to the receptacle 32 in a properly-conditioned condition. The chamber 27 is shown as having a drain opening 40 in its bottom through which the surplus moisture will be drained away.

Various changes in constructional details of the apparatus may be made without departing from the invention.

Having fully described -my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1. In an apparatus for sorting bobbins therein, and means to convey the bobbins from the delivery portion of the table to said conditioning apparatus and through the latter;

2. In an apparatus for sorting bobbins and-conditioning the yarn thereon, the combination with a sorting table on which bobbins maybe sorted and provided with an s opening, of'an endless belt carrier arranged within said opening at substantially the level of the table top and adapted to receive sorted bobbins therefrom, a bobbin-positioning member associated with the table and adapted to position bobbins to bereceived by said carrier, a: casing, an atomizer jet within the casing, an endless belt oonveyer extending through the casing and adapted tojcarryv bobbins therethrough, and means to deliver bobbins from the carrier to said conveyer.

3. In anapparatus for sorting bobbins and conditioning the yarn thereon, the combination with a sorting table on which bobbins may be spread out for sorting, of an endendless belt bobbin deliverer less-belt bobbin deliverer associated with the table, having one of its runs situated in the plane of the table top and adapted to deliver bobbins therefrom, and a positioning member adapted to position bobbins in line with said deliverer.

4. In an apparatus for sorting bobbins and conditioning the yarn thereon, the combination with a sorting table on which bobbins may be spread out for sorting, of'an associated with the table, having one of its runs situated in the plane of the table top and adapt- ,ed to deliver bobbins therefrom, a positioning member adapted to engage the ends of thebobbins placed transversely of but in line with said bobbin-deliverer and thereby position bobbins to be received by said deliverer, and a yarn-conditioning device comprising a housing having a steam chamber therein provided with a perforated top, an endless-belt conveyer to convey bobbins through the housing above said perforated top, and means to deliver bobbins from said deliverer to said oonveyer. V

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v I

FRED SPENCE.

Witnesses:

GEO. A. FIELD, E. E. HUssEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents.

Washington, D. 03f 

